


Metadata!

by LenaLawlipop



Series: Document It - Voiceteam Mystery Box 2020 [2]
Category: Meta - Fandom, No Fandom, None - Fandom, podfic - Fandom
Genre: Essays, Meta, Metadata, Podfic, process
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:42:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28853748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LenaLawlipop/pseuds/LenaLawlipop
Summary: An essay I wrote about how I use metadata for podfic and audio works, what programs I use, what I include in my metadata, and why!
Series: Document It - Voiceteam Mystery Box 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115822
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6
Collections: Voice Team 2020 Mystery Box: Team Sun, Voiceteam Mystery Box 2020





	Metadata!

**Author's Note:**

> Yet another Document It for Voiceteam, also at the prompting of a teammate! These have been super fun, and I hope they help someone in their quest to bring more podfic into this world :3

# Metadata!

## What? Where? And perhaps most importantly… why?

I mentioned a while back to my team that I’m kinda particular about metadata. A few were very disconcerted as to why that would matter much, and promptly after that conversation, someone forgot to add me on one of the things I’d edited, and had to message the mods.

I was quick to point out that I’d added my name in the metadata comments as editor, in case the mods wanted to check it or something. Mostly because it was a good example of why I add metadata, rather than thinking the mods wouldn’t trust us! xDD

So I was going to put together this Document It thing for the actual challenge, but then I capped out and didn’t. And now I’m waiting anxiously for the tiebreaker collection to be revealed in half an hour, so, of course… I have to write it :’D

#  **What is metadata?**

You know when you name your file something, but then you send it to your phone, and it still has the previous name? That’s because you’ve only changed the display name in your computer, but not the name that it has in the metadata. Someone versed in computers will have a more technical definition of what metadata is, but basically, it’s just the info that the file has about itself that doesn’t always get displayed when seeing its icon.

#  **Where do I add it?**

I’m going to be giving three examples.

## 1\. In audacity

When you export your files, you get this screen, right? If you don’t pay much attention to metadata, you probably leave it blank. Perhaps you’ve glanced at it and didn’t _know_ how to fill it. Well, here’s how I do it. Feel free to use the same structure!

  * Artist name: You! Imagine you’re searching your phone’s music library by artist. You want to be able to find your own things by your name! If you have a multivoice, you can either put a generic team name (this was the case, for example, for the Crown of Thorns Podrama Team), or separate your artist names by commas. Most computers will separate your library artists that way, in my experience!
  * Track title: the title that will show when your device looks at the metadata and not the display name – aka the way to make sure it’s still called the same when you send it to your phone! I use the name of the story, and if it has multiple chapters, the name of the chapter, and usually the number as well.
  * Album title: I often put the same name as the podfic, the writer’s name in parenthesis, and read by LenaLawlipop (me). If this is a series, or a multichapter, I put the name of the series/the name of the story instead.
  * Track number: Usually one, for oneshots, but this is very helpful to keep your multichapters or series on track!
  * Year: ignore the fact that I forgot to change the year for the example picture. This isn’t immediately helpful, but if you have an extensive library, it can help you sort by year. Podfic tracking, amirite?
  * Genre: I simply put ‘podfic’. Sometimes ‘filk’ or ‘interview’, depending on what I’ve been recording. But mostly ‘podfic’.
  * Comments: Here’s the interesting part! Normally, a podfic made by a single person won’t have much in here. Music credits are always good to write in this space, however, both for your own future reference, and so no one misses where you got those sweet SFXs or intro/outro clips from! If you had help from silent contributors (anyone not showing in the voice track), this is a good space as well. Credit your editor, or cover artist! You can also write who voiced specific characters, as well. 
    * Remember that you can add extra fields, but not all operating systems let you visualize them later on! I personally just add everything on the “comments” cell.



Once you’re done adding your metadata, and you like your structure, make sure you save it as a template! It’ll be very useful later on so you don’t have to remember where you decided to put what.

## 2\. Windows properties

This is actually very simple. Right click on your exported file, and go to properties. You will find, in the details tab, all the fields that you can edit to your heart’s content.

Remember, though, that WAV files won’t let you change the metadata once it’s been generated! So be careful when exporting those!

## 3\. Mp3Tag

This is a program I downloaded a long time ago, by recommendation of some other podficcers, to add covers to mp3s. However, at the same time that you add your cover, you can double check your metadata, which is great if you forgot to add something or realized you had a typo!

#  **Why are we doing all of this again…?**

Metadata can be a bit of a chore. You just finished your pod, and you wanted to put it out there! Not toil around with information no one might ever see.

I understand that!

But as I hinted at in the introduction, it might yet come in handy! And not just if you forgot to credit someone while submitting to voiceteam airtable.

My primary concern is the lovely people who download a podfic and will keep it on their phones for years, treasure it like a friend, and relisten whenever they want. It warms my heart! And I want those people to be able to find as much info about that podfic as they want whenever they look at the file, because I know from experience that losing AO3 links is very, _very_ easy. Especially if it’s been a while, and AO3 still hasn’t implemented a way to search your reading history!

In those cases, you might be thinking, sure, but I read my own credits in the audio! And yes, you did. The cover might say the names too (if you added a cover). But it’s always worth making sure that the relevant information is repeated as many times as possible! What if they need to find your AO3 because their file got corrupted while transferring into a new phone (has happened to me)? Or what if they love the music you added, but can’t find it because there aren’t enough lyrics in your intro to search in google?

I want to make my listener’s lives as easy as possible

And a final reason in case those before didn’t sway you.

Did you have a _fabulous_ editor? A cover art to DIE for? Maybe you can never find SFXs like the person who helped you out this time. Well, if you added their roles and names into your metadata, you can find them again! And be like “Hey, you ROCK! Do you wanna work together again?” And they’ll probably say yes because, hey, compliments are always good, and especially if it’s been a while and you’re like “I remember how amazing your work was when we did [the thing].”

So… yeah!

Metadata! It’s cool!

….yay! (?)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed my essay :D
> 
> If you did, please consider leaving kudos or a comment, they're greatly appreciated!
> 
> If you’d like to create related content based on my work, please visit my profile for my blanket permission statement!
> 
> If you want to yell with me, you can find me at my tumblr, [lenalawlipop](https://lenalawlipop.tumblr.com/), the comments section down below, or any of the links in my profile. Don't be shy!
> 
> Love,
> 
> ~Lena


End file.
